Life Goes On
by LordMaster6
Summary: 'This is the ninth night in a row that you have come over to my house after work. Uninvited.' Ziva declares. One shot set sort of during 10x01, near the end... it should become apparent upon reading. There is some swearing, but mostly you'll just find a lot of Tiva fluff.


**I think this is quite different to my usual work, but it hit me a couple hours ago when I got home from dinner. It is the first fic I have published on here in present tense. I was expecting it to be darker, because I'm in a very dark place personally. Bad news from the doctor has pretty much fucked up my motivation to do anything but drink and mope. It's not fatal, but definitely will impact my quality of life and one day I might not be able to work. I will definitely need surgery and that is something I didn't think I would ever need again. So yes, I am in a dark place. This fic however, is very fluffy, very Tiva.  
**

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They are halfway through Goldeneye of all things when her patience runs out.

Ziva turns until she is sitting sideways on the couch, she puts up her foot and rests her chin on her knee as she glares at him. Tony fidgets before he heaves a sigh and pauses the movie.

'I thought you got your ranting out of your system back in the office. But by all means, fire away. This isn't my favourite part at all.' Tony's words are grumpy, but his body says otherwise as he turns to face her, his arm stretches out over the top of the couch between them.

'This is the ninth night in a row that you have come over to my house after work. Uninvited.' Ziva declares. Tony blinks twice, surprised. Ziva frowns, he can't have expected she would not question his actions eventually.

Tony turns longingly towards the TV, her eyes narrow to slits. When he continues to be silent, she kicks him. To be fair it is more of a push with her toe into his thigh. His cry of pain is completely uncalled for.

'Jesus! Have a little patience already.'

'Oh I have had plenty of patience. Nine nights!' Ziva snaps back.

Tony sighs and looks away again. Ziva watches him sink into the same melancholy that has regularly gripped him at the office since the bombing. She doesn't understand, they are alive and Gibbs is on his way to finish Dearing as they speak.

'He never called.' Tony finally starts, his voice is quiet and full of hurt. Ziva sucks in a breath, she wants to speak but she is sure that it would be the wrong move. 'Eli called. And all due respect, but he's still an ass in my book. But mine didn't.'

Ziva glances down in time to see his hands clench into fists, his knuckles whiten. She wants to reach out and take his hand, but before she can act he is speaking again.

'McGee copped an earful from his grandma for getting himself hurt. And Abby, well you saw her phone bill too. Gibbs had his father and Vance has his family obviously.'

'You said you had spoken to your father.'

'Oh yes. I called him. Nine days ago.'

Ziva doesn't speak, she is beginning to understand.

'When things like this happen everyone has someone who calls them and checks up on them and well, cares. No one called me.'

Ziva feels like she is about to cry, she opens her mouth to say something… anything. Tony beats her to the punch though.

'No one called me because I was with my someone already.'

'Yes.' Ziva can't think of anything else to say, Tony gives her a small smile, the hand on the back of the couch reaches across and touches her hair.

'You're my best friend.' The way he says it implies so much more. Ziva feels like someone has socked her in the gut.

'My partner.' He continues, his fingers are still touching her hair. Ziva wants to lean into the touch, but she can't think of a way to do so that would not look like she was a cat begging for a petting.

'I keep thinking about how many times I've almost lost you. The bombing won't be the last, either. Next time might be the one, and then there'll be no one to call.' Tony's hand travels over her hair, until his fingertips rest at the nape of her neck, his thumb strokes her cheek.

'That's not true and you know it.' Ziva says. 'Gibbs, Abby, McGee and Ducky. They will always call.'

'They're not you.'

Ziva lets out an inhuman noise and flies at Tony. The hand on her face pulls her in unison, contradicting the surprised look on his face. Once she is straddled over his lap Ziva grabs his face, she wants to shake him but instead she leans forward to press a kiss against his lips. It is sudden and nothing like what their kisses could be like.

'I agree.' Ziva tells him, Tony just gazes up at her, she can feel his other hand on her thigh, sending a spark through her very core. For a moment she wrestles with the temptation to act on that desire. For all that she would enjoy it, there are important words to be said.

'But you still haven't told me why you have come here these past nine nights.' Ziva's hands lower from his face to rest on his shoulders.

'Because it felt like I was wasting time by not being here.' Tony replies, he sits up from the couch, bringing them closer. 'I don't want to have regrets. If the time comes.'

'Doesn't Gibbs have a rule about that kind of talk?'

'Fuck the rules.' Tony growls, before he closes the distance.

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**I can't really write smut. But if I did, insert smut here...**


End file.
